Felon Definition

fĕlən
felons
noun
felons
A villain.
Webster's New World
One who has committed a felony.
American Heritage
An evil person.
American Heritage
A person guilty of a major crime; criminal.
Webster's New World
A painful abscess or infection at the end of a finger or toe, near the nail; whitlow.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
adjective
Evil; cruel.
American Heritage
Wicked; base; criminal.
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Felon

Noun

Singular:
felon
Plural:
felons

Origin of Felon

  • Middle English felun, feloun, from Anglo-Norman felun (“traitor, wretch”), from Frankish *felo (“wicked person”), from Proto-Germanic *fillô, *filjô (“flayer, whipper, scoundrel”), from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“cruel, evil”) (compare English fell (“fierce”), Middle High German vālant (“imp”)), related to *fellaną (compare Dutch villen, German fillen (“to whip, beat”), both from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to stir, move, swing”) (compare Old Irish adellaim 'I seek', diellaim 'I yield', Umbrian pelsatu 'to overcome, conquer', Latin pellere (“to drive, beat”), Latvian lijuôs, plītiês (“to force, impose”), Ancient Greek πέλας (pélas, “near”), πίλναμαι (pílnamai, “I approach”), Old Armenian հալածեմ (halacem, “I pursue”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English feloun from Old French felon wicked, a wicked person from Medieval Latin fellō fellōn- possibly of Germanic origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English feloun probably from Latin fel gall, bile ghel-2 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Probably from Latin fel (“gall, poison”).

    From Wiktionary

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